Good Mr. Benda

synopsis

A sensitive portrait of grandfather Miroslav Benda, a tried and true Sokol member and an ordinary man with extraordinary vigor and ideals, revealing a story of human resilience and optimism through nostalgia and situational comedy. The film is a kind of observational documentary - it includes family videos and archival film material. We’re drawn into the microcosm of the village of Křenovice u Slavkova by two Japanese women who have decided to visit Benda, thanks to his long friendship with a university professor from Tokyo. Together with Benda, the audience travels to the only Japanese gas station in Europe, to Prague’s Strahov Stadium, and to New York to visit American Sokol members. 

“Old Mr. Benda fascinates me with his ability to elevate banality to a feast; he is like a Zen master who was asked about the meaning of life and said: ‘When you want to eat, eat; when you want to sleep, sleep.’” P. Jurda

biography

Pavel Jurda (1970) graduated from Mendel University in Brno and studied dramaturgy at JAMU. He focuses on directing, screenwriting, dramaturgy, and dramatics. He worked at the National Theater in Brno as a dramaturge and worked long-term with Czech Television on a series of scientific documentaries for children and films with historical and social themes. His feature-length debut film was My Name is Hungry Buffalo (Ji.hlava IDFF 2016). 

more about film

contact

ENDORFILM / Jiří Konečný / Přímětická 4 / 140 00 / Prague / Czech Republic / +420 602 358 373 / jiri@endorfilm.cz / www.endorfilm.cz/